hi,

My PC 7424xp along with pads and goodies will get shipped today. I will have to buy a 100 feet power cable to bring power close to my car. So i was looking for my options on power cable and found this (click here) power cord. its 12 guage, i was reading online on autogeek and a respectable member said 12 guage should work. because machine is 5 amps and 12 guage with 100 feet cable should supply about 10 amps.

what you guys think?

 

when did buying extension cords become such a daunting task!?
yes, that one will work.

 

well, i was worried about guage vs amp supply
i know... I am being picky!

 

uh yea.. that should be fine.....

pretty good deal too.
nice find

 

Doesn't matter .. you have your answer ..

 

Bought this cable 2 hrs ago. I will receive my Pc DA and all accessories tomorrow by the end of the day! I'll do my 1st ever machine buffing on thanks giving day
i hope everything goes alright, Have watched several videos and read a lot :/

 

Like with anything in life; there is a slight learning curve.
But you'll get the hang of it quick!

be warned, it's an all day event.
wash the car
clay
wash the car
tape up
polish each panel.
wash the car.
inspect and go back over on the areas you missed, etc.
wash the car.

lol really an all day event.

 

im planning an all night event :P thanksgiving night lol.
it will be nice ( i live in miami so it will be around 65F, perfect! )

 

......

 

get some good lighting if you plan on polishing at night.
a 1000w halogen work light does wonders to find swirls.

you can prob get decent lighting if you have florescent lighting in your garage but you wont be able to see the sides.

get one of those home depot lights.
thats what i use

 

i dont know if it would be handy or not I have galaxy note II (android phone) that has very bright flashlight. I will test it, if it worked, well and good. If not, home depot closes at 9 and ill start working on car by 7pm. lets see.. I already have spent about 250$ in products and tools
its all worth it, if I get the shine i want !!
i.e the glassy shine on your black hood .. I WANT DAT!

 

hahaha. if youre planning on going by 1 LED which is what the flash basically is, youre gonna be at it a loooong time.

pick up a cheapo halogen. theyre less than $10 bucks.

no one ever said it was a cheap hobby!

i need to polish mine again. its still pretty shiny thanks to purple haze but fuckin landscapers and their blowers put tiny scratches all over my car.
i cant wait til i move in to my house in a week and half!

 

yeah, this hoby isnt cheap but its full of investments. I see this porter cable machine running for a few years, got 8 pads, they should be good for a few detailing runs too.
and I guess i should as well pick this light. if its under 25 bucks ill get it.
when you said 1000W halogen and i googled, Everything worth buying was 80$+
this would be my last item to buy (given ill work in night)
this is going to be fun!

 

well a 1000w is ideal but you can get the job done with a 500w single light.
youre just looking for swirls, not doing construction work.

 

They will last a long time if treated right and cleaned properly.

You can buy all kinds of 500w X 2 head lights on stands for around $40

 

i like how excited OP is about the detailing world...it is a lot of fun for sure!

enjoy your new goodies bud!

 

I second the $40 halogen lamp, as mine is broken I saw one at walmart today in the $30-40 range. Think it had a stand for it also.

 

okay, so i washed and clayed my car (almost 2.5 hrs) started learning pc buffer handling (took 2 hrs, did a few passes on hood and decided my process) so now today started doing the real deal buffing (9am) and now im back home 6:00 pm.. Car battery died because i was playing songs lol.. anyway, i was able to do all 4 doors, hood, driver side fender, panel between trunk and driver side passenger door.. and trunk.
I still have to do front bumper, back bumper, side skirts and passenger side fender.. And passneger side headlight lol ( i started doing headlights and after doing driver side, i crashed completely .. tired as hell)
so my process was,
1) compound + yellow pad (5-7 cross section in each process)
2) compound + orange pad
3) polish + orange pad
4) polish + green pad
5) sealant + blue pad.

i still couldnt ractify all swirl marks, i believe some marks are not fixable from this process / product + pad combo. i can see much difference but my car isnt half ready for any kind of pic lol.. interior and wind screen \ other glasses has white splatter\ dust.

and yeah, Mr. SharksBreath , i see what u did there (i realized and laughed when i was breaking my back, claying )
may be my process needs a bit tweaking.. still learning.

 

If its splattering your using way too much ... I do a spiral of an 1/8" line of polish initially and smear the pad over the surface with the PC off , after that its 4 dime sized blobs of polish .

I use the Optimum polish line because it doesn't dust.

 

a few times i increased speed during my run, and it started throwing stuff all over the place. If i use constant speed, it works okay.. also, i think my compound isnt good :/
it cuts but i still have my concerned scratches on my car. its mag's compound.